Issue Date: August 1, 2004
I understand that "Law & Order: SVU's" Mariska Hargitay is making a Lifetime movie this summer. What's it about? When will it air?
Fred Moore, Lansing, Mich.
It's an adaptation of Jodi Picoult's best-selling novel "Plain Truth;" Hargitay plays a hardened Philadelphia lawyer defending a young Amish woman charged with murdering a baby. She expects to finish the movie, shooting in Halifax, Nova Scotia, by mid-month (it won't air until October). Then Hargitay, 40, and her boyfriend of two years, actor Peter Hermann -- who plays a recurring "SVU" character, defense lawyer Trevor Langen -- plan to marry, have a quick honeymoon and get back to work on "SVU."
Is Troy Gentry, of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry, any relation to Teddy Gentry, singer in the country music group Alabama?
Stephanie McCoy, Texarkana, Texas
No, but Troy Gentry, 37, is all about family. He grew up in Kentucky with singing partner Eddie Montgomery: "We know each other's quirks, when to push the buttons and when not to." And he can't stop talking about wife Angie and his daughters, 20 months and 10. In fact the Gentry clan has a new house in Nashville "big enough for not only my toys but the baby's."
Tell me more about Hilarie Burton. She's a regular on the WB's "One Tree Hill," but she hosts Total Request Live on MTV, too. With "OTH" coming back, will she still do both?
Gwen Deanna, Muncie, Ind.
You bet. Burton, 22, says "it's a pretty hectic schedule flying every week back and forth from Wilmington, N.C. [where OTH is filmed], to New York City to interview the hottest celebrities [for "TRL"]." But she's grateful for the opportunities. Burton tells us that her "MTV viewers really gave the push to "One Tree Hill." And I got a lot of air miles."
When will we see a new CD from the talented Jill Scott?
Chimere Wise, Sicklerville, N.J.
On Aug. 31. That's when her second album, "Beautifully Human," arrives in stores. Meanwhile, Scott, who's newly married ("to a DJ who gets me," she tells us), is touring small clubs performing music from the new CD and her first, "Who Is Jill Scott?" So, who is she? "Still to be determined," says the Philly native, 32. "I don't want to define myself." Who can blame her? She's already been a video director, an actress (UPN's "Girlfriends") and a poet (with a book in the works).
I am in love with Amy Smart after seeing "The Butterfly Effect." Is she married? Any new movies on the horizon?
Hartley Knorp, Auburn, Calif.
Smart, 28, recently finished an indie movie with John Corbett, "Caught in the Act," shot in Oregon. She's not married, but she has a boyfriend of more than a decade, actor Branden Williams. The couple live in L.A. with two cats and a dog.
How much did former president Ronald Reagan's funeral cost the taxpayers?
Shirley Gregoris, Woodbury, N.J.
At press time, it was difficult to be exact. Closing the government that day cost at least $30 million, says Pete Sepp of the National Taxpayers Union. Security and transportation cost about $1.5 million; the Reagan Memorial Foundation is expected to repay Congress most of that amount.
What is Gen. Tommy Franks, who planned and executed the war on Iraq, doing now that he's retired?
Walter Bohmer, Tucson
This week the four-star general is promoting his new book, "American Soldier." It covers his 38-year military career, during which he fought in Vietnam and the Persian Gulf and led U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. Made an honorary knight in Britain last May, he also works the lecture circuit. Most important, Franks, 59, who lives in Tampa with wife Cathy, 56, an ex-high school history teacher, is doing what he said he would when he retired: "We're going to bounce the grandbabies on our knees for a while." He's a highly decorated veteran, but Franks' grandchildren call him "Pooh" (as in "Winnie-the").
What a surprise when Jimmy Fallon announced without fanfare that he was leaving "Saturday Night Live." What's his plan?
Lara Jackson, Toledo, Ohio
Fallon wants to make movies, and his first prominent role will be in the comedy "Taxi," with Queen Latifah, coming in October. Based on a 1998 French movie so popular it spawned two sequels, it's the story of an antsy undercover cop, a lousy driver who enlists New York's best cabbie (Latifah) to help him catch a gang of female bank robbers.
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BIRTHDAYS
August 1: Coolio, 41
August 2: Kevin Smith, 34
August 3: John C. McGinley, 45; Martha Stewart, 63; Martin Sheen, 64
August 4: Jeff Gordon, 33
August 5: Patrick Ewing, 42
August 6: M. Night Shyamalan, 34; Michelle Yeoh, 41
August 7: Charlize Theron, 29; David Duchovny, 44
Contributing: Gayle Jo Carter, Kevin Maynard, Kristina Martino, Frappa Stout
 Ask Lorrie Lynch a question about a celeb!
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